Monday, October 31, 2011

Cool Cities

In last week's readings there was a section that discussed a community looking to the state or county for help when redeveloping a large space. I thought immediately about the Cool City initiative that was set up by Granholm several years ago. The program was developed to invest in cities and town all over the state that were deemed "Cool Cities" in hopes of increasing travel to these destinations. I was able to find an overview of the program and thought it would was pretty interesting.

http://www.coolcities.com/useruploads/files/WhitePaper.pdf

Halloween Economics

Its almost insane how much money people can make on this holiday. According to this farmer: "what we do in the fall pays our bills for the rest of the year".

http://ww.channelone.com/video/halloween-economics/

Could you argue that Halloween is a recession proof holiday?

Sunday, October 30, 2011

Health Effects of the Housing Crisis

This article provides a sad take on how the housing crisis is having a direct impact on the health of the elderly. The relationship between the inability to pay off housing debts and making necessary medical payments has put many people struggling with chronic diseases such as diabetes or hypertension in the impossible situation of choosing between health or a home. On top of that, the study shows that 22% of people dealing with housing issues showed an increase in depression among other social and mental issues. This just goes to show that the issue of housing and debt extends much further than homes, neighborhoods, and banks.

http://www.newsmax.com/TheWire/jobs-housing-health/2011/10/21/id/415292

Should a Student Buy a House?

Here's an interesting article looking at the pros and cons on whether a college or grad student buy a house. Most students (especially at K) graduate college with a large sum of debt from student loans. Many must make the crucial decision on whether they want to pay even more of that money they dont have by buying a house.

http://thecollegeinvestor.com/850/should-a-college-student-or-recent-grad-buy-a-house/

Freddie Mac CEO to Step Down

The CEO of Freddie Mac is stepping down in 2012. Charles Haldeman will be the second CEO to step down since the government took over Freddie Mac in 2008. He joined Freddie Mac just over two years ago, and will be adding to the departing of multiple executive managers since the government take over. Here is the video and article: Chief of Freddie Mac Will Step down

Saturday, October 29, 2011

Recycled Housing

This is an interesting article talking about how in Haiti they are solving their housing problem by using old tires and other recycled objects such as bottles. These homes use solar energy for power and collect rain water. This is a really interesting way of helping Haiti recover and for many gives quite an improvement from living in a tent. Is there any way we could learn some lessons from this with our housing problems?

http://blogs.wsj.com/developments/2010/07/20/solving-haitis-housing-problem-with-old-tires-bottles/

Ancient Rome

Just as a follow up on a tweet from earlier this week I thought I would share an article that discussed the treatment of bankruptcy and debt in ancient Rome.

http://www.livescience.com/3629-history-bankruptcy-dungeons-slavery-executions.html

Friday, October 28, 2011

Money Trouble

http://www.lewrockwell.com/rep2/bad-times-ahead-for-us-economy.html
This article unfortunately represents the hard times that are ahead of us. The financial crisis that we faced and are still trying to recover from has left the economy in the worst condition its been in for a while. From the housing crisis to the under performing stock market the U.S. economy is going through a lot, but one step at a time the economy can change.

Fannie, Freddie Bailout Costs Revised Lower

A federal regulator on Thursday revised down the US government's likely tab for bailing out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as the mortgage-finance giants begin to repay more money to taxpayers. Fannie and Freddie have cost taxpayers a total of $141 billion so far, but that tab will begin to shrink as narrower losses at the firms allow them to pay back more. The numbers may show the firms are stabilizing; however, they are unlikely to return to profitability in the near future because the dividend payments will wipe out any possible profits. Check out the article and video: Fannie, Freddie Bailout Costs Revised Lower

It's Time for Debt Forgiveness, American-Style | The Nation

It's Time for Debt Forgiveness, American-Style | The Nation

This opinion piece does a great job of laying out the economic and ethical issues in today's mortgage mess.

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Land Banks Outside of Michigan

In this article, they talk about opening up some land banks in Ohio. With more and more homes being foreclosed in the Cleveland area, the use of land banks becomes more and more inevitable. This talks about their discussion of land banks in the area and why they need them.

http://www.news-herald.com/articles/2011/09/26/news/doc4e80d9536a4d2602460570.txt

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Problems Abroad

In my Spanish lab the other day, it was interesting to read and discuss the economy when it comes to many Central American cultures and that many are dealing with the same issues that we are. There currency is depreciating in value and many people are moving away. it was just interesting to me that other countries are doing as bad or worse than we are.

Abandoned houses fix hasn't come

Here is an article last year about Detroit and its abandonment issues. How it has been a reoccurring thing no matter what the city tries to do. More abandoned houses just keep showing up. When the population of a city was over 1 million people a few years back and now its about 750,000 people, your going to have a ton of vacant lots.





http://detnews.com/article/20100330/OPINION03/3300342/Abandoned-houses-fix-hasn-t-come

No Job stay hopeful!!!

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/27/us/jobless-go-without-but-stay-hopeful-poll-finds.html?_r=1&hp
It looks to me that all people can do now is hope for the best and survive off their relatives. Really sad for the people who have more than one relative and are battling with their on mortgages.

Housing Crisis headquarters

Found this site that seems to almost be the headquarters for the current housing crisis. Plenty of information, way more than I could summarize but there is a ton of information that can be worth a look if you have some time.

http://www.housingcrisis.com/

looking abroad

hour by hour updates on world wide economics and happenings... its interesting just to look through.

http://www.newsnow.co.uk/h/Business+%26+Finance/Economy

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

banks flooded with Cash

This article might have been shown in class. I picked up the New York times and when I saw it on the front page, I couldn't resist. This article is about Banks hording money in times of insecurity.


http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/25/business/banks-flooded-with-cash-they-cant-profitably-use.html

Budgeting nightmares.

Today in class we were discussing budgets for households. According to the SSA (http://www.ssa.gov/oact/cola/AWI.html) the average income in the US in 41,673.83. If there are two parents working 83,347.66. With this money a family has to pay for everything. Mortgage, cars, school, food, housing, unspecified costs, plus much much more! Hopefully with two working parents at least one of them will have health care to cover the family. However, not all plans have coverage on some of the things that I personally see as a necessity. For example, dental. The cost of braces alone average $5,000. This however does not include x-rays, special appliances, or extractions. Another expense could be a pair of glasses. Aside from the $5o for the actual eye exam glasses cost around $300 without insurance. These expenses are a very few of the total expenses that one would have to shell out for with or without kids. Knowing what your disposable income is great but there are also so many unknown expenses that can't always be accounted for. Emergencies can happen and usually without warning. This kind of opened my eyes to all the expenses that happens when owning a household. Also it seems much more plausible now that people may have a lot more trouble in knowing where they stand during uncertain times. Also uncertain costs come about that people can't plan for and it's possible that they're not able to pay it off.

Metro Detroit home prices rise 2.7% in August, among hottest in country

http://www.freep.com/article/20111025/BUSINESS04/111025028/Metro-Detroit-home-prices-rise-2-7-August-among-hottest-country

Interesting article about the rise in housing prices in metro Detroit. "For the second month in a row, metro Detroit and Washington, D.C., ranked as the only two major metropolitan areas to see price appreciation in the past year..." In general, mid western cities including Detroit, Chicago and Minneapolis have seen monthly increases in housing since May.

This is a positive note for the city of Detroit as well as the state of Michigan and the Mid west. But the article mentioned that housing prices in Detroit are still only at 1995 levels so there is still much improving that is necessary.

bank of America screws over the nation

I found a quick article on what we were talking about in class today. How Bank of America dumped all their toxic assets for the federal government to deal with.


http://www.allgov.com/Top_Stories/ViewNews/Bank_of_America_Dumps_Trillions_of_Dollars_of_Risk_onto_Taxpayers_111025

toxic assets

In class today we discussed banking and how the government should fund recovery, through giving money to banks or to private people. Giving the money to the banks is a very simple process, but setting up programs to help people with underwater homes seems like a very difficult process. We looked at many of the programs for homeowners in Kalamazoo and read about the ineffectiveness of many government programs. If the government chooses not to fund the banks, how should the money be infused into the home-owning economy?

Suburban Poor

This is an article about the increase of suburban change in identity from middle class to lower class.“For the first time, more than half of the metropolitan poor live in suburban areas.” The article explains how this is due to the fact that so many people have been loosing their jobs and houses, i wonder if there is any flight from the city into the suburbs during this time. They also talk about how some communities have embraced their hardships and have done everything possible to help the people in need. It is interesting to look at this from an unemployment perspective with regards to the crash of the auto industry and how metro Detroit and Cleveland are similar in hardships.

Comparative Advantage

Comparative Advantage, allocation, impossibility of fairness... Is it about time that people should realize that there is not a solution to this current situation??

In class, Dr. McKinney said that "there are no short term solutions".... hmm, so what should we do when they are millions of people affected at this moment.

Also, Dr. McKinney said (if you remember from maybe week3) somebody rich or foreign countries will have to subsidize for the loss before the whole global economy would end up in a pit.

If the country supports the banks, which they are doing right now, the citizens would suffer on behalves of the health of the economy. Supporting the citizens would result in the abandonment of banks and the need to alternative solution to generate money.

Question. Does the country have enough money to actualize the 2nd solution of helping all the homeless and etc? Would it require financial assistance of those who did not get affected by the crisis? Is this realistic?

I say this over and over, but the more we think about these "alternative solutions" the more depressing it gets. It requires a fundamental modification in the way people think. Country before oneself.

Suburban Assistance Programs

Here's a New York Times article talking about how suburbs, like those in Cleveland, are having trouble providing assistance to struggling homeowners because they have not had to provide assistant programs in the past.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/25/us/suburban-poverty-surge-challenges-communities.html?_r=1&hp

Land Bank Experience

The visit last Tuesday.

I thought it was a nice start to begin this chapter through hands-on experience. It was very cold but considering that these people work in the winter too (or do they?) it was fine.
My fundamental beliefs on volunteering is to stay positive and don't rush.
Most of these projects ask for too many people, so there are enough human capital.
Since majority of the people think that they are sacrificing soooo much to freely help out others, people easily can get in a bad mood.

In short, why not try to have fun if we're going to be helping others in a setting like this?

Managing Student Debt

Something that many of us will have to start thinking about upon graduation is paying student loans. According to this article, many students coming from a private college can accumulate six figures in debt. It will vary among students the actual amounts owed. However, any debt at such a young age is bad debt. Being that we are living in such hard times with so much bad debt around us, the last thing any recent graduate needs is to get behind on student loan payments causing a bad credit score and financial complications. Here is an article giving ten tips in dealing with student loans. 10 Realistic Ways To Manage Your Student Debt Loads

Overpaid CEO's

I found an article on Forbes.com that ranked the 25 highest paid CEO's in America. I noticed that a few of the CEO's on the list were in charge of banks. I think it's funny that banks can say that they have so many problems financially, but continue to dish out huge salaries for the people in charge. It's pretty shocking to see how much money some of these people are making every year.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/christopherhelman/2011/10/12/americas-25-highest-paid-ceos/

QE 3?

Quantitative Easing policies have been put in place by Bernanke over the last 3 years. The real question is whether it has done anything. Different economists have differing opinions. The Federal reserve is basically pumping money into the economy to try and stimulate it. My big issue with it is that the money is not doing anything concrete to help the economy. The money does not go in to the economy, it just goes to bank to bank to bank. Still, no one is loaning, and unemployment is still high. I think QE3 should not occur but I think Bernanke feels he has no choice and has to do something and keep encouraging money to go around.

http://www.foxbusiness.com/personal-finance/2011/08/09/qe3-3rd-dose-quantitative-easing/

American Credit Score

The average American credit score ranges from 660 - 685 for credit cards. This article also explains different methods and ways that one can improve or maintain a healthy credit score.

Home Lending Revamp

Federal regulators unveiled a major overhaul of the underused mortgage refinance program designed to help homeowners whose homes have lost value. This new plan will allow homeowners to refinance no matter how far their homes have fallen in value, eliminating previous limits. This can even help borrowers who are underwater so much they owe more than their house is worth. The refinancing process will be streamlined by eliminating appraisals and extensive underwriting requirements along with some refinancing fees. The only requirement is that the homeowner must be current on their mortgage payments. Check out the article: Home Lending Revamp Planned

Obama Challenges Congress on Job Plan

With politically moderate proposals and a punchy tone, Obama challenged lawmakers to "pass this jobs bill." The new job bill is an $447 billion package of tax cuts and new government spending, designed to revive a stalling economy and Obama's own political standing. Obama said "the question is whether, in the face of an ongoing national crisis, we can stop the political circus and actually doing something to help the economy."

Some of the Best and Worst Housing markets in the US

http://realestate.yahoo.com/promo/americas-best-and-worst-housing-markets-2011.html

This is a very interesting article that talks about and lists the current best and worst housing markets all around the USA. It seems like the majority of the healthiest markets are in the upper east coast. It is interesting that a city of Florida appears in the list of healthy markets when other cities in it fill most of the worst markets list.

Suburban Poor

This is an article about the increase of suburban change in identity from middle class to lower class. “For the first time, more than half of the metropolitan poor live in suburban areas.” The article explains how this is due to the fact that so many people have been loosing their jobs and houses, i wonder if there is any flight from the city into the suburbs during this time. They also talk about how some communities have embraced their hardships and have done everything possible to help the people in need. It is interesting to look at this from an unemployment perspective with regards to the crash of the auto industry and how metro Detroit and Cleveland are similar in hardships.

147 companies that control everything

A really interesting article that talks about how a small group of companies that own everything. A really interesting concept because I was looking at the top 20 companies and the majority of them dont really do anything besides move money around. This goes along more with the concept from earlier in the class about too big to fail but this is just something to think about.

Monday, October 24, 2011

Changes to HARP

President Obama is announcing changes to the federal Home Affordable Refinance Program today to help citizens take advantage of the low interest rates. The biggest change will allow homeowners who owe 125% of the market value of their homes to get new loans.

http://money.cnn.com/2011/10/24/real_estate/housing_refinance/index.htm?hpt=hp_t1

Decline in Commercial Real Estate

The article discusses a 15 percent decline in the commercial real estate market over the past three months. It explains how the debt crisis in Europe has had a major influence on the second biggest decline since early 2009, as people are worried it will cause another U.S. recession. The article also examines the "choppiness" across markets and the factors that influence business confidence. Increases definitely will not happen over night.

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-10-20/commercial-real-estate-deals-decline-as-u-s-rebound-cools.html

Sunday, October 23, 2011

Protests on Wall Street

http://occupywallst.org/article/occupy-wall-street-marks-one-month/

This article shows the huge impact occupy wall street is having not only on our nation but in the world. Protestors have every right to be angry at wall street for this major recession we are experiencing. Protestors have been inspired by protests they've seen around the world, and now they feel something needs to be done in order to get us out of this economic crisis. But where do we go from here?

Kalamazoo - Top 100 places for young people

Here is an article about Kalamazoo being ranked in the top 100 best places for young people in a recent America's Promise Alliance, marking the third time Kalamazoo has been ranked in the top 100.

http://www.southwestmichiganfirst.com/userfiles/file/news/10132011_Gazette_KalamazooNamedOneOfThe100BestCommunitiesForYoungPeople.pdf

Tech vs People at work

We keep saying the housing market can improve if there are jobs available but i just read an article on NY Times and it suggests that Technological advances are kinda messing everything up. What can we do then? Down with Tech or keep hoping some jobs will remain for people? Better still go to third world countries most jobs are still for people.

The Art of Painting

On Thursday we will be returning to the Land Bank property. As professor Mckinney informed us we will have organized tasks and also be painting the shed. I can only assume that some of you have never painted before, I know for a fact that Roy has never even picked up a paint brush. If you happen to be like Roy then I would recommend that you read the article I am posting.

http://homerepair.about.com/od/interiorhomerepair/ss/paintbrush_use.htm

Europe's Debt Crisis

This article provides an update on Europe's current debt crisis and the strategies they are considering to combat the issue. After talking so much about personal debt in class, it's interesting to see how an entire continent can get itself into trouble. Much like loans that go unpaid, Europe's efforts to bail out countries like Greece has left the continent reeling and seemingly falling deeper and deeper into the crisis. Unemployment, strikes and riots are occurring all over and are forcing big banks to take significant loses in hopes of keeping Greece and other struggling countries afloat.

No deal yet on euro crisis as the danger grows

Occupy Wall Street Article

I found an interesting opinion piece regarding the occupy wall street movement. The article raises some good questions about the movement and capitalism.

http://www.mantecabulletin.com/section/38/article/28618/

A Green Infrastructure Model for Right Sizing America's Shrinking Cities


I found this article relating to greening communities and its benefits. check it out if your interested. i included the purpose statement

Purpose: We define strategies shrinking cities can use to convert vacant properties to valuable green infrastructure to revitalize urban environments, empower community residents, and stabilize dysfunctional real estate markets. To do this we examine shrinking cities and their vacant property challenges; identify the benefits of urban greening; explore the policies, obstacles, and promise of a green infrastructure initiative; and discuss vacant property reclamation programs and policies that would form the nucleus of a model green infrastructure right-sizing initiative designed to stabilize the communities with the greatest level of abandonment.




http://www.esf.edu/cue/documents/Greeningtherustbelt.pdf

Friday, October 21, 2011

Land Banks #Winning

I found this website about the successes that land banks have had in the state of California. They discuss several different locations that have been successfully developed using land banking.

http://www.proland.com/land_banking.htm

Demand vs. Supply

Here is an article that discusses the housing market being caused by low demand or poor supply. Some say one, some say the other. There are reasons for both. Its not so much that there are no homes available, but its more that there are not so many attractive homes for sale. Many homes are in the wrong location. Many homes are over priced because sellers do not want to short sell their properties, and short sales are complicated processes. Supply vs. Demand: Why is Housing Hurting?

We've all seen these...

Here is an article from a Texas newspaper detailing an abandoned property scam that tries to get people to call oversees numbers and divulge personal information.

http://www.blanconews.com/news/101293/

Thursday, October 20, 2011

half an article

I found an article about the FED starting to buy mortgage backed securities. Finally the government might back citizens over big business. Unfortunately, I can't see the whole article. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203752604576643510352250474.html

my question

Why doesn't the land bank just use all their money and demolish a lot of houses. On the supply and demand diagram we saw in class on Thursday. While the demand for housing is dropping, the supply is fixed or perhaps growing slightly. To fix the market, the supply needs to be adjusted, this can only happen if we destroy broken down homes. Building new homes just seems like a waste of money. This is how I see the problem, but maybe I am overlooking something important. help me out!

Working Hard

Upon returning from volunteer work last Tuesday, I noticed how wonderful I felt from helping others. This got me thinking, what exactly are the psychological effects of volunteering? Does giving back to your community actually help one fulfill themselves? I decided to do some research and ended up stumbling upon this article which helped answer a few of my questions.

http://www.ehow.com/list_5890553_effects-volunteering-future-goals.html

Foreclosure Purchase Denied

Massachusetts' highest court ruled that a homeowner who purchased a foreclosed home that was not properly foreclosed on by the bank did not legally own the house. This creates a huge problem following a previous state court decision that voided a foreclosure when banks could not prove they owned the mortgage. There was much attention brought to this issue because this could turn into a huge issue because most people do not know they have this problem and everyone involved is put in a bad position. Check out the Wall Street Journal article: State Rules on Foreclosure

Weatherizing Volunteers (link)

I accidentally forgot to share the link for the article I discussed. So here it is:

http://rapidcityjournal.com/news/volunteers-help-weatherize-rapid-city-homes/article_4b8a2484-f78e-11e0-91fc-001cc4c03286.html


Weatherizing Volunteers

This article discusses a recent energy audit in Rapid City, South Dakota, which has caused many homes to need several new items and repairs. It reminded me of one of our readings that stated the importance of differentiating between problem properties and properties that just need assistance. It talked about how a group of volunteers, called NeighborWorks, are helping people weatherize their homes for the winter, which not only helps the resident feel more comfortable, but also saves them money. The group is a great tool for educating homeowners, and assisting those who are struggling physically or financially, such as the elderly and low-income families.

NEIGHBORHOOD STABILIZATION PROGRAM

Last year HUD (housing and urban development) planned a 22million dollar budget to be spent in the city of Detroit. 25% of this budget must be spent to purchase and redevelop abandoned and foreclosed homes. This budget article was published last year October. It would be interesting to see how effective this budget has been used in the city and if it has had an actual effect on the value of the city. 5million dollars seems like a lot, but when thinking about how many abandoned homes must be in Detroit it seems like it would barely be able to scratch the surface.

Less than Half

the speaker in class mentioned the vacancy of detroit. there is enough land mass and has an infrastructure large enough to hold two million people, yet it has seven hundred and fifty thousand people. until the demand of houses goes up, which means income and overall wealth would have to increase, the vacancy in detroit along with many other large metro areas will remain.

Programs Available to Stop Foreclosure

Stopping a foreclosure depends largely on your financial and mortgage situation, however this is completely unique to each person. Springboard is a HUD approved free mortgage assistant adviser. You call their free help number, speak directly to a mortgage adviser, and get help. Once your adviser hears and understands your situation they can determine which mortgage relief programs may be available to you, find out if you are eligible and can qualify for the programs, and apply correctly for the programs. Go springboard.

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

The House by the Shed

I noticed that next to the property we were working on on tuesday, there was a boarded up house..how is its value affected by what we were doing? Could a beautiful yard and shed make all the difference in the world by attracting people to buy that house? Other houses in the neighborhood? Housing reform could take a long, long time because it is going to have to start one house, or one shed, at a time.

Ways to Clean Up Vacant Lots

There is essentially lots of ways to clean up vacant lots. But the city of Cincinnati has a plan that just might work. Have the owners clean the vacant lots up. If they don't comply within a certain amount of time, the city will hire someone to do it. Then, they will bill the owner and they will have to pay a disclosed amount back to the city. I think this is a very good idea for cities to look into.

http://www.local12.com/news/local/story/New-Plan-Unveiled-to-Clean-Up-Vacant-Lots/G4kFJFCUQkiGyOI1jMNwGg.cspx

Another alternative to vacant lots

In class we discussed alternative ways to re-use abandoned property such as, turning the property into baseball fields for the local kids or building a traditional garden, but have you ever thought about turning it into a beer garden? Detroit has done just this. An abandoned lot on the corner of Van Dyke in West Village has transformed from an area with overgrown trees to a fenced in area with communal tables and benches where people can drink Michigan craft beer, listen to music, eat local food, and play beanbag games. I think this is a cool way to re-use an abandoned lot and to support our state's businesses. Check it out .... http://metrotimes.com/culture/tashmoo-beer-garden-1.1219881

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

One vacant lot at a time....

Beginning my day today with community service at the vacant lots on the East side of Kalamazoo was not easy but it was very rewarding. I began my work moving logs, next I relocated compost, and I ended my morning sifting soil. As I was working, I thought my individual contribution to the garden was not significant enough to make a difference. But as I looked around at my classmates, who were also diligently working, I realized that twenty-eight people does make a difference! A big difference. Just seeing the transformation of the lots from the time we arrived there to the time we left was impressive. I can only imagine what the garden is going to look like once it is finished. I am looking forward to seeing it! It's pretty cool that one day we can look at it and say, "I helped build this."

Little Things Make A Difference

It was nice to see almost our whole class outside working and helping the community even in the weather conditions we volunteered to work in. The idea of building the shed and a garden for the community is great I just hope they are well maintained and not ruined by the community/near by communities. Making neat piles of wood chips, sifting soil, moving big wood pieces and building a shed was the least we could do to give back to the community. It is very generous of the originators of this idea to try and reach out to their community in a way that benefits the environment. Hopefully Thursday's experience will go as smoothly as today's.

Credit Cards Promoting Healthy Lifestyles

A recent tweet by FoxBusiness described credit cards from such providers as Discover, AmEx, and Capital One, that rewards its user for using the credit to benefit their health. Some of them involved perks when doing yoga, buying natural food, and getting massages. Other ones involve a more deliberate act of exercising at certain gyms and purchasing merchandise at these gyms. It is a good idea, because as long as people are developing massive amounts of credit we might as well benefit ourselves while doing so.

Building a shed

Today when we went to go help build the shed for the garden i had a good time doing it. it was fun to help out and also to interact with the three older gentlemen that were in charge of us. they were very nice and fun to be around and i thought that it was really cool that they were retired but were still helping out their community by building this shed. I'm looking forward to our next visit on Thursday to help out more with the shed.

The Art of Abandonment

As seen last week, here is an article on how people in Detroit deal with abandoned homes. They create colorful designs and make the neighborhoods look presentable to the public. This makes the area have a safe feel to it. Its better then having drug houses and homeless people using these abandonment homes. This is also a very affordable thing for the city and the people of the city of Detroit to take part in.


http://www.economist.com/node/15108683

New Mortgage Plan Proposal

In the newest government efforts to ease the housing market problems, state and federal authorities are pushing a plan that could help some underwater homeowners get refinancing help. This proposal was brought about in a recent meeting between government negotiators and lenders as part of efforts to settle questionable foreclosure practices. The proposal is still in the process of being discussed. This plan would make refinancing available to some homeowners whose loans are worth more than their homes as long as they are up to date with their mortgage payments. These homeowners currently are not able to refinance because they do not have equity on their homes. However, this plan is only applicable to mortgages owned by banks, and that only accounts for 20 percent of mortgages because majority are owned by investors in mortgage backed securities. For further detail see the following Wall Street Journal article and video: New Mortgage Plan Floated

Old Time Baseball

After our morning of volunteering I couldn't have been more excited to return to my room and find a riveting replay of the 1991 World Series between the Minnesota Twins and the Atlanta Braves. Playing in the old HHH Metrodome, it was hard not to notice the cheap artificial turf, empty seats, and other low-tech elements of the stadium. I know this was 20 years ago, but the Twins just replaced this stadium last year with a state-of-the-art $545 million stadium. In the last decade more and more new stadiums have been built, including Detroit's Comerica Park and, most recently, the new home of the Miami Marlins, Miami Ballpark.

It's amazing to consider that these stadiums, costing hundreds of millions of dollars, have been built, without question, in the wake of the housing and debt crises. With private homeowners struggling with foreclosures and/or living month-to-month trying to pay off debt, it is hard to understand how a stadium like Miami Ballpark can receive $360 million in funding from the city of Miami and Miami-Dade County. How do you feel about public spending being allocated in this way given the current economic situation?

Miami Ballpark Wikipedia Page

playing in the dirt

today our entire class took a field trip to a community garden right outside of kalamazoo's downtown. we were assigned to different areas and spent the almost entire 2 hours toiling. moving sticks was my primary task. its incredible how much a group of people can do. within the time span my group of about 5 had gathered all the major branches and logs and created a pile that could made the most epic bonfire. i was astounded by the effect a little thing like this had on the feeling of the place.  i had a lot of fun and got to know a few of my peers better. i'm really happy this class gave us this opportunity and look forward to doing this again next thursday.

Monday, October 17, 2011

Hunger Hits Sesame Street

The famous children's show introduced a new puppet over a week ago, named Lily, whose family struggles with hunger. The show wanted to raise awareness among children and discussed the issue by sharing real-life stories, along with ways to help. The article stated that, "The United States Department of Agriculture estimates that 17 million American children - nearly one in four - have limited or uncertain access to affordable and nutritious food." The statistics are shocking, and I have no doubt the Sesame Street Muppets will do a great job handling the topic.

http://insidetv.ew.com/2011/10/04/sesame-street-hunger-muppet-photo/


Abandoned property

Seeing that the main topic discussed last week was about abandoned properties I found an interesting article that relates the augment in abandoned properties to the bigger the city is. Bigger cities are racking up records for abandoned properties while smaller ones are doing a lot better. See what you think, I'd love to hear thoughts, enjoy.

http://www.lincolninst.edu/pubs/1057_Vacant-and-Abandoned-Property

Sunday, October 16, 2011

Abandoned houses and Hip Hop

currently i am in the class Politics and the Hip Hop Generation and multiple times i have seen abandoned houses come up in texts or class discussion and i though it was very cool to be able to relate this to our class. we have primarily talked about the abandoned houses in the South Bronx during the 70's and what life was like for people living there. it was interesting to find out that an underground economy began in this area that consisted of building owners hiring thugs or random people to burn down their property so that they could receive the insurance money instead of just letting the building sit there and rot away.

Exploitation in Online Banking

This is an interesting article from the New York Times about how new banking technologies such as online bill payments have effectively trapped clients in the system without a way to avoid unnecessary fees. By lumping together services like credit cards, mortgages, and mobile phone payments, banks make it extremely difficult for their customers to move all of those accounts to a new bank. On top of that, many banks are imposing fees comparable to Bank of America's monthly $5 credit card fee that are not worth the extra time and effort for customers to avoid. Overall, this article provides an intriguing example of corruption and exploitation in the banking industry and how banks are taking advantage of Americans' demand for simplicity (through online services and the like).

Online Banking Keeps Customers on Hook for Fees

We Are the 1%

I found this blog while looking up information on the whole occupy wall street movement. I thought it was interesting to see what the 1% had to say. I hope you enjoy this as much as I did.

http://hotair.com/archives/2011/10/06/we-are-the-1/

Mortgage Lending Expected to Decline

This article talks about how mortgage lending will fall 25 percent next year. This will be the lowest sine 1997. This is due to demand being low and banks running out of qualified buyers to refinance. It is predicted that home loans will fall below one trillion dollars. The continued slow economic growth means that unemployment levels will remain high, which will slow the improvement in the foreclosure volumes. The refinancing share of loans will fall by more than 50 percent.

Saturday, October 15, 2011

National Debt Plan?

Tonight I was watching a Ron White stand up on comedy central and he had an idea to lower our national debt which is in the trillions now. He used housing market ideas which was kinda funny and if countries worked like this could potentially work...prolly not but funny idea. Ron's idea was to sell Florida to someone like Israel who has money and would be willing to buy it, then buy Mexico, clean it up a lil bit and flip it. It would cost a lot to clean it up but if it was possible could potentially at least lower the debt. The big question is how much would it cost to "clean up" Mexico? I bet it would be quite a bit with how much is going on there now a days.

Friday, October 14, 2011

Abandoned Property

Today I drove by an abandoned house on the North side of Kalamazoo. The windows were boarded up and the grass was almost as high as the windows on the first floor. I wondered how long it had been like that and how long it had been providing nothing to society except decreasing the value of the entire surrounding area. I am not used to seeing houses like that.

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Building Awareness of Homelessness

This is a short, yet interesting article about Indiana college students attempting to build awareness of the growing problem of homelessness in our country. Our class can relate to this issue after our discussions and readings have touched on the ideas of debt, abandoned properties, and creating affordable housing. One of the students interviewed noted that they are hoping to get more college students involved in the area's Habitat for Humanity program through their efforts. Though this article is not very in-depth, it serves as a strong reminder of the need for students like us to get involved with programs such as Habitat and to use our knowledge of urban economics to spread awareness of issues such as housing and debt.

The Henderson Press

All Time Low

http://www.dailyfinance.com/2011/08/19/mortgage-rates-reach-all-time-lows/

Recently mortgage rates have been pretty low, but on October the 7th they hit an all time low. It is a shame to see how bad the economy is going over the years, after we hit the crisis in 2008 I knew things would never be the same. This article talks about how the low mortgage rates also have to do with government debt. The government is not doing a good job managing money which leads to issues, it is very sad to see such problems occur. With all the payments they receive from taxes, tolls, and etc money management is essential.

Fun with the Housing Crisis?

Here's an interesting article about people taking advantage of foreclosed houses. At least someone can find a positive from the housing bubble.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/4031086/Skateboarders-take-advantage-of-home-foreclosure-crisis-to-skate-in-abandoned-pools.html

Pontiac vs Detroit

Holla. This article mentions what we've talked about it class regarding the situation in Pontiac, MI. It's in Detroit this time, but people will pay money for you to live in abandoned houses.

http://www.businessinsider.com/abandoned-houses-detroit-2011-2

And here are some photos of abandoned properties in Detroit. It's really cool in terms of artistic photos, but it sure is pretty depressing to think that there are thousands of houses in this shape.

http://www.howtobearetronaut.com/2011/04/abandoned-houses-detroit/

Homeless Children.

I was talking to Dr. McKinney during class and she mentioned that here in the US is where there are more homeless children than anywhere else. I found this article that talks about how 1 in every 50 children are homeless in the United States.

http://articles.cnn.com/2009-03-10/us/homeless.children_1_homeless-children-family-homelessness-child-homelessness?_s=PM:US

Michigan Central Station

I found some interesting articles discussing the renovation of the Detroit train station. It will be interesting to see how long it takes for this renovation to reach completion and if it actually ever will be restored to the point where it is as cool as it once was. Also i would be curious to see how much a full restoration of this building would cost. It mentioned that in the 70's they started a restoration that had already sunk 1.5 million into it before they halted it. Since then the once magnificent train station has been abandoned.

http://www.marp.org/?p=3062

Bank's choose to demolish

"Banks have found it's cheaper to raze homes and give away the property rather than continue to pay upkeep and property taxes."

http://www.newser.com/story/130881/rubble-raisers-banks-demolishing-scores-of-homes.html?utm_medium=goognews&utm_campaign=chan3_feed

Low-Income Housing's Impact on Property Values

I found an interesting article regarding the impact of Low-Income Housing such as Habitat homes on surrounding property values. Contrary to popular belief, the article explains that instead of bringing down the value of the surrounding homes, low-income homes can increase the value of surrounding property if they are replacing housing that was seen as undesirable.

http://www.infobarrel.com/The_Effects_of_Low-Income_Housing_on_Surrounding_Property_Values#axzz1afPLmlOc

Bank of America Mortgage Deals

Bank of America is continuing a string week of mortgage deals a packages that are in line with national averages. Not only have the rates so far been insufficient to tempt would be buyers in from the sidelines, but they have also been suggested by some as contributing to a false sense of security that may in fact be keeping the market so incredibly lifeless.

Abandoned Places Here in Michigan

I just came across a blog that features more abandoned places, but this time they all reside here in the Michigan. I think it's sad to see so many abandoned places in the State, especially Detroit, because many of these places were once so thriving and vibrant. (Be sure to click on 'older posts' at the bottom to see others.)


The Abandoned Wonders of America

Many of the properties included in these lists are commercial or industrial buildings that have been abandoned right here in America.. Ranging from prisons and cemeteries, the first building to house an assembly line, the old Pabst brewery and even the old LA Zoo.



Habitat for Humanity

the speaker who came into class on Tuesday was a great way to see what some people/organizations are doing to help this housing issue. i loved when he brought up the point "Don't take money from people in need!" such a simple and common concept but it seems like many ignore this and target those who are vulnerable. i like his outlook on it all because he was very real and accepting of what was going on, he knew things were not getting better as a whole but he knew that the portion that he and the organization are assisting is helping in some way.

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Canadian Housing Bubble?

This article talks about the recent increase in the Canadian housing market. It presents possible justification for the current trend, and also discusses the possible dangers if the market continues in its current manner. The article asks whether enough caution is being taken, and describes how builders are not slowing down. With the current market uncertainty, shouldn't our neighbors to the north be more careful before starting new projects?

http://www.journalofcommerce.com/article/id47086/--canadian-housing-starts-float-above-200000-units-in-september

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Buying?

Here's a couple of tips on what you need to think about before you buy a house...

http://www.dailyfinance.com/2011/10/11/how-to-boost-your-odds-of-getting-approved-for-a-mortgage/

Real Estate Employment Shrinks

This article is about how the Real Estate employment keeps getting smaller. It was at an all time high in May of 2007. The real big downturn started in 2008 when there was a 14% decline. This is probably because of the foreclosing crisis our nation is suffering. With no one buying homes or taking out mortgages at a high rate, this number will continue to drop.


http://www.realestateeconomywatch.com/2011/10/real-estate-employment-shrinks/

Habitat for Humanity

I thought that today's guest speaker was a good one.  I am now thinking about volunteering at some point this year after football is done to lend a helping hand.  I thought that Don did a great job in representing the company and covering numerous topics that pertain to our class.  I was most interested in their ability to provide such a great opportunity for families in need of a higher standard of living! I think it is amazing how organizations like Habitat for Humanity are able to help these families out in such a difficult time.  I hope that there are other organizations out there following HFH's lead!!!!

Habitat for Humanity: Inspired

In all honesty i did not think i was going to be able to stay awake for a guest speaker at 8:30 am. But to my surprise the man that walked through the door... for lack of a better word... was AMAZING! With the topics of the past classes and through all the readings i had become pessimistic about not only the housing crisis but also humanity. Reading about not the one but thousands of cases of fraud, and not just from one side but from all, had shocked me. having no singular entity to blame is almost unnatural. everything about what we've talked about seemed to make human greed just take over everything.The effects of housing bubble bursting have left me close to to speechless. no one seems to know what to do, attempts have rebounded or availed to nothing.  i was not expecting our guest to be a bearer of good news.

after listening to everything he had to say, i wont lie and i don't want to seem cheesy, i was given hope. seeing  someone who (at least seemed) to care about people more then his own pocket book was a relief. not only that, but to know that something is being done about the housing issue was counselling. As someone who is hoping to work in rehabilitating communities i was eager to learn about his program and might even consider working for Habitat after graduating. I;m really happy with todays class.      

H.F.H.

Today's speaker was straight up awesome. I've worked with Habitat for Humanity before, but I was one of those people who "work for a day, get the good bumps, feel good, and don't change anything fundamental." Because "when you do a deep philosophical humanity work, you'll find out that this is very complicated." His words offended me a bit, but it is true. Renovating a house in a heavily distressed neighborhood is not necessarily an enlightening answer to the community. Unless there is already a resident in that house, the project could be nothing but a money waster.

His new idea of reviving neighborhoods by streets really intrigued me. Given the fact that the real estate in Michigan is speculated to decrease in price in the future and that "the gap" would be immense when constructing houses in distressed neighborhoods, it is unlikely that this project would financially profit the organization. His explanation of relatively inexpensive renovation in return of great increase in equity can only be applied in two conditions.

1. If the neighborhood does not lower the home value.
One of the core issues for HFH was working hard for nothing. If they start this project in places of need (distressed neighborhood), I don't believe that changing a street would all of a sudden attract many "partner families". He mentioned that it would be more effective if he chooses the path of clustered renovation. I believe that, but that would be investing in the future.. how scary.

2. If the resident of the house is willing to leave after the renovation.
If HFH does not won the property, the service they provide will be paid by the resident, but that only breaks the cost evenly.. If they could buy the property for a relatively cheap price, renovate it, then sell it for a price that is greater than the original price of the house plus the cost of renovation, it could be somewhat profiting. But that would go against their motto: "We're don't make money from people in need." So the equity must sky rock after the renovation in order to get some cash to cover their losses.

In short, I admire people like Don who dedicate their time, money, and life to change communities. Rather than blaming the president for not changing the whole country (#American Culture) it is important for us to exercise our capabilities to make an impact in "our" country.

Habitat for humanity

So a goal of Habitat is to help out the poorer people and really want to be building homes in the distressed neighborhoods or rehabing houses there. Right, people are taking the houses in the non-distressed neighborhoods and paying the higher prices. What if all of a sudden there is a run on the cheaper houses, where Habitat actually loses money from house cost to the value/sale price? How long will people give donations, especially in this economy, that can help keep them afloat? Especially if this comes to be nation wide or world wide? I just can't see habitat staying above water too long if this happens which I could see as a very real potential situation.

Two Americans Win Nobel Prize

The two Americans, Thomas Sargent and Christopher Sims, won the Nobel Prize in economics. They presented research on cause and effect in the macroeconomy. Mr. Sims said the Fed and other central banks can't resolve the current economic crisis alone. Their work must be supported by fiscal policy, which is controlled by the president and Congress. Economists Win Nobel for Focus on Real World

Freakonomics: Housing prices compared to birth rate

This is an interesting connection that was made between housing prices and birth rates. The study ended in 2007 before the majority of the housing crisis, it would be interesting to find out how foreclosure has really effected the birth rates in depressed areas since.

Habitat for Humanity

Give back to your community and volunteer for Habitat for Humanity. Here's a link to sign up for various ways one can help Habitat for Humanity. After all we've learned in class and from our speaker we all know how necessary our help is.

http://www.habitat.org/getinv/volunteer_programs.aspx

Quicken Loans in Detroit

Quicken Loan's chairman Dan Gilbert makes his first move in his plan to revitalize downtown Detroit.  He hopes that other companies will follow his lead.  Will there be enough companies that take the risk of moving into Detroit and offering jobs?
http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9Q9FICG0.htm

Vacant Building Issue

Many buildings in many cities continue to sit year after year vacant. It is becoming a problem in the United States and no one really knows what to do about it. These abandoned residential and commercial structures detract from the city's appearance, drive down property values, and drain resources of police and fire departments. In response to all of this, some city's are looking at possibly charging registration fees or a special tax to owners of long-term abandoned properties. Is this a good solution to the problem?

Monday, October 10, 2011

gloomy view for housing market

the chicago tribune wrote an article discussing the future views of the housing market. the average prices are estimated to go down by three percent by mid twenty twelve. thi s goes further than the actual price decline, it affects peoples confidence, which takes longer to overcome than the mathematical equations. how are we supposed to fix their confidence it seems like a slippery slope.

Defrauding is not the Answer

This article is talking about how California's attorney general sued a group of lawyers for illegally obtaining millions of dollars from homeowners in an effort to improve the mortgage crisis. the lawyers tried to take advantage of the homeowners in a variety of ways, such as; "unfair, fraudulent and unlawful business practices; unlawful running and capping; improper fee splitting in which defendants unlawfully split legal fees with non-attorneys; and failing to register with the California Department of Justice as a telephonic seller."

http://www.cnn.com/2011/CRIME/08/18/california.mortgage.fraud/index.html?iref=allsearch

Sunday, October 9, 2011

Renting old homes/apartments down town

This article/video discuses the trend of locals of Macon, Georgia moving downtown. According to a residential market study commissioned by New Town Macon the demand for housing downtown has increased. It has become popular for young residents to rent apartments which were once old homes in the down town area. As someone who lives in apartment apart of a house near downtown, I can attest to the advantages of the location and cost to renting this type of home.

http://www.13wmaz.com/news/article/147596/175/Study-Finds-Demand-For-Downtown-Housing-Rises

Swiss on the Bubble; Seem familiar?

This article provides an update on the current Swiss housing market. Interest rates are at a record low, those who couldn't afford a home before now can, housing prices are consistently rising, and the overall demand for homes has never been higher. Over the last two years certain housing prices have jumped an incredible 14% and people are starting to struggle to find affordable homes despite their anxiousness to buy. An increase in immigration, sparked by Euro-zone crises, has also lead to increased housing prices. Of all this information, the scariest quote comes from Janwillem Acket, a chief economist for Julius Baer Group, Ltd. who says "People who shouldn’t be borrowing are now seriously considering entering the housing market." As we all know, this can be the biggest cause of long-term problems when it comes to loans and debt.

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-10-09/swiss-home-prices-surge-as-record-low-rates-spark-risk-of-bubble.html

Detroit's Progress Towards Making a Comeback

This article is not only about the recent success of the Lions and Tigers but also talks about how Detroit is having success in making a comeback. Unemployment has fallen by 1.5 percentage points since July 2010, which is a larger drop than all but 3 other states and is down from a peak of 14% in 2009. Housing prices have increased because young buyers are taking advantage of the bargains in the suburbs and the city. The big three auto companies are gaining market share, and Ford is now outselling Toyota. The auto companies are also creating more local jobs by increasing their demand on local automotive products. Detroit still has a long way to go, but it is still very nice to see progress in the Motor City. Detroit's Engine Roars on Signs of Turnaround

Obama Housing Program

Just for fun here is the Official Site for Obama Housing Plan
http://www.makinghomeaffordable.gov/programs/Pages/default.aspx?utm_source=AdWords&utm_medium=CPC&utm_content=Obama&utm_campaign=Brand

Saturday, October 8, 2011

More jobs being created - up for housing

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-15217784
So the US economy seems to be doing some what well. A number of jobs created in the last month. What does that mean for the housing market? Or could it be temporary jobs -  you know the holidays and all. I will optimistic - The housing market is going to improve very soon because we are going to see more jobs being created in the few months, be it temporary or permanent.

Friday, October 7, 2011

Mortgage Rates Fall Below 4%

Here's a video that discusses how rates are at a historic low; however, people who can refinance already have and many people owe more than their house is worth. These rates, however, are not making the crisis any better. These new low are not bringing any more people into the mortgage. The mortgage crisis will not be fixed by low rates because many of them are underwater. We need more jobs to fix this crisis. Mortgage rates fall below 4%

Mortgage Reforms In sight

Here's an article talking about a new government program that will bring aid to many homeowners who are struggling with their mortgage payments.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/07/us-usa-economy-housing-idUSTRE78K34920111007

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Loaning Trouble

Mortgage companies have dug themselves in a hole by not researching enough about families asking for loans, and then they would give out loans and families/individuals would end up not being able to pay them back.
http://www.usatoday.com/money/perfi/columnist/krantz/2007-03-08-mortgage-profits_N.htm
This article talks about how homeowners being late on their payments or not paying at all negatively affecting mortgage companies. Leading to mortgage companies taking drastic measures in order to make-up for their set-backs.

Corruption; Whre did we go wrong?

Over the last couple weeks it seems like every subject we cover touches on corruption of the system in one way or the other. Big banks not taking care of their customers during foreclosure, the MERS system and their legal/ethical violations, loan requests being accepted without being fully reviewed, and many more examples have arisen. The mortgage process was once a personal process in which banks and all those involved with your loans were there to provide assistance, information, and in the case of foreclosure, find the best solution for you and your family. Sadly, it's quickly transformed into a rat race focused on exploiting customers, spending as little time as possible with each individual loan, and ultimately maximizing profits. Some could argue that the goal of business is to maximize profits, but this greed-driven crisis is far from a reasonable price for Americans to pay. It seems that ethics and a willingness to support your fellow man/woman has disappeared along with the hard work and dedication of the American Dream. What can be done to turn this around or at least get people working in collaboration and not competition?

Wealthy Tax

President Obama said that independent experts agree, "The economy needs a jolt right now." The article describes a tax proposal from Democrats that would seek to stimulate the economy by lowering payroll taxes on workers and employers. They believe the "jolt" needs to come from a tax surcharge on income above $1 million. This may play a large part in upcoming election campaigns.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/07/us/politics/obama-says-he-would-accept-a-surtax-on-high-incomes.html?hp

Homeowners Still Have a Chance?

This article focuses on how foreclosing is not necessarily the end for homeowners. Just make sure to hire a legal assistant dealing with foreclosure. Filing for Bankruptcy is not the end of the world.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/30/business/30nocera.html?pagewanted=all

Homeless and Homeless

Where do people go after they are foreclosed upon? There's not a legitimate statistic that I could trust, but here's a data.

: 20% buy another home
: 40% are homeless, living in their vehicle or living in homeless shelters
: 20% move in with friends and/or relatives
: 20% move out-of-State.

Most websites I saw claims that people go to their relatives or friends, others rent a house that is less expensive than their monthly mortgage, and the rest goes elsewhere..

When we use the term "homeless", we're including those who are temporarily living in shelters and other people who are not on the streets. I guess you could call people who moved in with friends and other people could be referred as homeless in a way?

why doesnt it work

If the government makes groups to help people out, specifically the mortgage market and HAMP, why don't they work like they should. It sounds like they have horrible customer service where you submit applications then maybe you'll get a call in a couple months. If your lucky enough to get a call, the chance of you getting a refinance on your martgage is next to none. They havn't used much of their budget either. Why it doesn't work is over my head but the faster we can help out others, the faster we can hopefully get the housing market on the right track and help turn the economy around.

Attorney Generals Master Plan

This article discusses how the attorney generals are trying to extract a multibillion-dollar settlement from banks for the way they mishandled foreclosures. The article also talks about how It's not fair to expect the banks to compensate every homeowner whose house has lost value, even if lenders' freewheeling practices helped cause the crisis.

http://articles.latimes.com/2011/oct/03/opinion/la-ed-banks-20111003

Who's at Fault?

reading about the housing mess has opened my eyes to the fact that frannie mae and freddie mac are not fully responsible for this collapse. there were many other factors that people choose to ignore because it is an easy topic to disregard the details. it is similar to the chicago cubs fans jumping on steve bartman for catching the foul ball from maybe being caught and they choose to forget the shortstop error, the eight runs the pitcher gave up, the fact that it was the eighth inning, and the fact that it was game six. everyone is quick to blame these two gses because there arent popular news shows talking about the private bank wolves lying to these people, and the people lying about their income to get loans they cant pay back. i hope we can get to the bottom of the issue and more importantly keep it from happening again. can we? can anyone?

Rambling Away...

I'm going to attempt to address some things that's been in the back of my head.

If creditors and the housing industry saw this housing bubble from a business perspective, there would be nothing wrong with taking advantage of people. People in this case happened to be mainly the lower class, but they don't care who their customers are as long as there are plenty of them. Throughout my business classes, I've never learned to consider the people who are losing money due to your success. Yes, there were fraud but is it that unbelievable? We talk about them as if they are the most corrupt manures in the face of the country but is that so? Students who cheats on their hw/ quizzes/ exams CAN NOT criticize them. That's just one practical example. As funny as it sounds, if you don't have enough moral to follow the rule and are willing to favor your own results over the fairness and ethics, your mind functions in a similar behavior and have the same logistics. If you are a good business man, a man who actively anticipates means to multiply his profit, who is not necessarily a moralizer, then it would have been difficult to say "NO WE CAN'T FALSELY LEAD OUR CUSTOMERS!!" while all your coworkers, boss, and your competitors are not wasting time to get that extra cash.

I'm not saying what they did was right, but it is not completely right for us to be wholly judgmental toward these workers. (And you can't just say the people who lost their houses were simply stupid. I leave this topic for another occasion.)

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Demand for Luxury Condos

The below article entitled, "Recovery Economics and Condominium Prices," presents the condo housing market specifically in Miami-Dade county. It presents the decline and how the crisis brought opportunities for people to purchase condominiums in the highly desirable places, such as Sunny Isles Beach. The article also discusses the likelihood of an increase in demand being "right around the corner."

http://www.crossmagazine.com/recovery-economics-and-condominium-prices.htm

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Another Failed Housing Program

Here is an article talking about another housing program that has fallen short of its goal. The Obama administration expects to spend only about half the $1 billion set aside for the new Emergency Homeowner's Loan Program. This program is designed to help homeowners who have lost their jobs get back on their feet with short-term loans. 100,000 people have applied for the program and 15,000 people are expected to qualify short of the original goal of 30,000 people.

Foreclosed Homes

Another Link about foreclosed homes and how Fanny Mae and Freddie Mac are dealing with these foreclosures. It says that the number of foreclosed homes has shrunk since the housing crisis.


http://www.loansafe.org/for-sale-by-u-s-foreclosed-homes

Money in the Bank

This has been a big news across the US. Bank of America added a new $5 fee to all of their debit card users. It's call the debit card fee. Anybody who used the card within the month is obligated to pay it. "Pay" as in "automatically deducted from one's account". We've talked about BOA in class also, but it is evident that they are on their last legs to be upsetting its customers in such a way. The damage from the housing crisis remains visibly on America's #1 deposited bank.

Maybe they are assuming that other banks would follow their paths and activate a charge that is similar to what BOA have done. Then, it would be like gas price. No matter how much they charge, most of us are going to submit to their decisions. In this theory, BOA would not lose a substantial number of customers.

It may only be a temporary solution, but I know I'm switching.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/bank-of-america-faces-outrage-over-debit-card-charge/2011/09/30/gIQAp8zGAL_story.html

Monetary policy

Here's a little article I found that talks about the FED and the Monetary Policy. One of the main problems with the monetary policy that we discussed in class was that it's very difficult to get people to spend and boost the economy when they don't feel like they have the money to spend.

http://www.frbsf.org/publications/federalreserve/monetary/affect.html

Tour in review

After looking up taxing information for the houses we went out to see last week, it was surprising to see how mnay of them were actually worth. Some were higher than I expected. Also, almost every single one was sold to someone in the past 3 years. A lot of the houses in this area that are in decent shape are also very cheap which means this is the time to buy. What I don't know is how long these prices will stay this low but hopefully long enough for me to get a house.

Fighting For Our Homes

I stumbled onto this site and found it interesting. It has a large amount of first hand experiences from people who just wanted to live the american dream but hit a few snags along the way.

Monday, October 3, 2011

Foreclosure abuses!!

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/04/business/fannie-mae-ignored-foreclosure-misdeeds-report-says.html?src=un&feedurl=http%3A%2F%2Fjson8.nytimes.com%2Fpages%2Fbusiness%2Findex.jsonp
The taxpayer should not be used to cover the loses that the mortgage companies made. They should find other ways to save the housing industry rather than make it more miserable for the taxpayers who are already struggling.
According to The Atlantic the renting to buying ratio is near it's equilibrium. Thanks to the Federal Reserve,we'll likely see the lowest mortgage interest rates in U.S. history proving a huge incentive to buy in the near future. Articles such as this will be important to take into account after I graduate and begin looking for a job and potentially a new home. Although I am sure I can find a nice home at an affordable price the idea of being locked into a mortgage scares me away. I will probably end up renting my next home....

http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2011/10/chart-of-the-day-attractiveness-of-buying-vs-renting/246085/

Video of Foreclosures

in searching for more information about foreclosure i stumbled upon this video made about what foreclosure looks like. it has some very interesting and touching pictures along with good narrative from victims on the foreclosure crisis and their experiences.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1750079117/no-place-like-home-foreclosures-in-america

How to Save the Housing Market: Destroy Houses

I recently read an article in Time Magazine relating perfectly to what we have been reading and talking about in class. The overall idea of the article is clear in the title, how do we save the housing market. One key way that is presented is to knock down houses that have been foreclosed. One city used as an example is Lakewood, Ohio, and average middle America town that is a working-class suburb of Cleveland. It is a common scene to see demolition of houses and the quote the mayor of Lakewood, "We're not gonna miss these houses," and he is hoping that this will save the town's economy as a whole. Another interesting fact within the article that jumped out at me was how responsible the housing market collapse was for the economic recession we are experiencing. According to economist Dean Baker, "every dollar drop in their houses' value, homeowners spend 6 cents less on other stuff, resulting in a collective $430 billion drop in consumer spending from the bubble's 2008 peak, or a 3% hit to the economy. That is huge!!! Basically, the article just continued on summarizing all to problems of the housing crisis and some additional ways that could potentially help to end this housing crisis. These includes lifting the debt burden, renting houses that have been foreclosed and letting seriously delinquent loans fail. The article ends with this quote, "getting out of this crisis will require one other thing too: perseverance by the millions of Americans who are living with the consequences of decades of cray lending and borrowing."

looking at lower income housing

One of the biggest things that struck me during my housing tour was how different lower income housing appears in Kalamazoo compared to my hometown Los Angeles. All the houses we saw in a low income neighborhood in Kalamazoo looked very nice (perhaps even middle class) to me. Back home, low income neighborhoods look very different. One of the main diffrences was the amount of people living per house. Most houses in poor neighborhoods have more than one family living in them or have been partitioned. This is evident because most houses have multiple addresses attached to them like 135 1/2. 135 1/4.

I realize this difference comes from the disproportionate housing prices in Kalamazoo and Los Angeles. When considering low income housing I assumed that most communities would seek to lower living costs by having more people per property, but I learned that this is not the case in Kalamazoo.

Preventing Foreclosure

Found this article as I was just browsing the web. It talks about options people have when dealing with foreclosure and how people should talk with their banks because they are actually willing to help prevent foreclosures. Enjoy.

So Much Debt

I found an interesting article that talks about the financial problems of debt that stretch beyond foreclosure. The author talks about how having your house foreclosed doesn't mean that you are out of debt and that there are other things that can be taken from you.

http://blogs.wsj.com/deals/2011/10/02/the-long-arm-of-debt-stretches-into-condo-fees-car-repos/?KEYWORDS=housing+market

Sunday, October 2, 2011

House Flipping

Interesting article about how house flipping is a thing of the past. This relates to what we were talking about in class about how you could buy your house for a price and in a year the price would rise by 50 percent. This is no longer the case and now house flipping is a thing of the past since no one is buying the houses anymore.

Neighborhood activity

As we visited our assigned neighbor hood in Portage I was interested to see whether we got an upper class neighborhood or one of lower class. Ours was neither but it seemed like most of the houses were in pretty good shape. There were not a lot of foreclosures of for sale signs in the neighborhood either, surprisingly. We drove street by street the side-walks and lawns were well taken care of which presented the neighborhood in a good light. For the houses that were for sale though it was shocking how high the prices were for the state and size of the house, there must have been something I was missing. . .

Media Clouding Housing Market

Constantly in the news media, newspaper, and television we hear how bad the housing market is. People make estimates on when and if the housing market will ever pick back up, but frankly its like a weather forecast and therefore cannot be exactly predicted. As bad as the media wants to make it, 2007 was the 4th best year in over 35 years of record keeping. A home that is priced right, in the right condition, and aggressively marketed will sell. People are still getting the price they want for their homes, but they just have to find the right buyer.

Saturday, October 1, 2011

House Eval. in a Kalamazoo Neighborhood

Even though prof. McKinney told us that are target area was relatively safe, I felt quite uncomfortable walking around the neighborhood with a file, papers, and a pen in my pajamas. I received a few glare from the residents of that community. Some came out of their house to signify the proximity issue between me and their property. Obviously, it is understandable that documentation is not the best way to meet people, but I was there on a mission. The mission of founding "foreclosed" houses was quite problematic on my part because I could not clearly distinguish between houses with inhabitants and the ones without. I remembered prof. McKinney indicating that some people might be shocked by how nice/poor these houses are, and apparently I was one of those people. There were so many houses that was in a good condition that broke my perception of "foreclosed houses". Foreclosed doesn't necessarily mean houses that are in unlivable conditions. Yet, there were houses that seemed as if they had not been taken care of for some years. Anyways, don't go off campus in your pajamas.

House Hunting...

8:30 Thursday morning I got into a car with two of my peers to scope out houses in a small suburban area of Kalamazoo. The area looked fine enough, manicured similarly built houses with relatively large gardens, typical and exactly what I expected to see. As I walked off in my designated direction (we split up so to cover the most area) I started to notice some oddities. While walking along the side of the road I noticed a section of grass that was higher then the others, so I looked up and examined the house it belonged to. Instead of a white fence leading to the backyard there was a peeling one with a broken gate... the garage was cracked with broken windows, the gutters were filled with broken tiles... but more then just neglected the house was empty, not a sign of life or ownership... surprisingly this wasn't the worst or only house that I came across that showed signs of abandonment... I've seen pictures of foreclosed houses before, I've seen how houses have rotted away... but standing in front of them, seeing the reality of the situation to be too real made it hit home. It was a horrible feeling to walk through the neighborhood and keep seeing these spoiling houses, many of them so obvious... I could only imagine how the people living there feel about it.